For the cause of the homeless: How medical professionals can help improve the conditions of children living on the streets

In this era of globalization and industrialization, it’s the economically backward who suffer the most, especially children. They are drawn to the streets due to the global financial and economic crisis, which has contributed to family break-ups, social upheaval and disruptions in education and healthcare. Some of them who can manage to find a daily income resource for themselves still continue to battle it out, but the ones who are too young and cannot find an appropriate source of income are frequently neglected and abused, remain on the streets. Although, there are many NGOs and other establishments working to decrease these numbers, we still find the innocent sauntering on the streets. This problem is prevalent in a variety of communities around the world, and has become a global phenomenon.

Street children are exposed to situations that make them vulnerable to a variety of health problems ranging from traumatic injuries to acute diseases, as well as many social evils like abuse, violence, including trafficking.

In a recent meeting held at Moscow, the World Medical Association (WMA) stressed on raising awareness within civil and medical society about the fundamental role played by medical contact in improving the situation of street children. To bridge the gap, it is important that medical professional try to establish contact with the street children keeping trust as the most important pillar in mind. The WMA has urged all medical and social establishments to come together for re-socializing street children by building trust amongst them. Subsequently, a more global multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach should be adopted to further improve the well-being of street children. Additionally, it is important to implement equality in healthcare for ensuring that these street children avail the basic medical facilities.

WMA aims at addressing child homelessness by:

• Condemning any violations of the rights of children living on the streets and any infringements of these rights, in particular discrimination and stigmatization and their exposure to abuse, violence, exploitation and manipulation, including trafficking

• Eliminating the factors, which lead to children living on the streets and to take action to implement all applicable legislation and systems of protection to reduce the health implications for street children. National authorities have an obligation to provide care for all children and, where necessary, to support their return to a living environment appropriate for a child

• Reducing health implications includes not only direct treatment of health issues but also protection of street children from health risks such as exposure to drugs, HIV infection, smoking and drinking

• Asking the governments, national medical associations and healthcare professionals to acknowledge the scale of this phenomenon and to instigate prevention and awareness campaigns. These children must be able to access the full range of necessary health and social protection.

• Urging all national medical associations to work with their legal counterparts, governments, health care professionals and public authorities to ensure the fundamental rights of children, who are a particularly vulnerable population in need of protection, particularly access to healthcare and education. The right to food and housing should be guaranteed, and any form of discrimination or exploitation should be forbidden

• Condemning any improper age-assessment practices that make use of insufficiently reliable clinical or Para clinical investigations. Until they reach adulthood, adolescents must be able to enjoy their status as minors, as recognized by the UN International Convention on the Rights of the Child

•Urging physicians to remain vigilant in terms of delivering all the support required to provide suitable and comprehensive care for 'street children'. Physicians should be aware that homelessness is a pervasive problem

• Maintaining that every effort should be made to provide all children, and particularly those that are homeless, with access to a suitable and balanced psycho-social environment, in which their rights, including the right to health, are respected

Breaking news

New AASM guideline on sleep-related telemedicine

A position paper issued by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and published in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine recommends that clinical care standards for healthcare delivered through telemedicine services, including all aspects of diagnosis and treatment decisions, should mirror those of live office visits. The position paper also recommends that appropriate technical standards be upheld, specifically those of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); that roles, expectations, and responsibilities of providers be defined; and that providers be appropriately remunerated. According to Nathaniel Watson, MD, AASM president, and professor, neurology, University of Washington, Seattle, Home-based sleep tests, including sleep apnea tests, where information obtained from a patient can be uploaded and interpreted by a provider at a later date, are a form of telemedicine technology and are already in use.

Dr Good Dr Bad

Specialty Updates

• Computed-tomography angiography (CTA) is more accurate than nuclear-stress myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) for the diagnosis of angiography-confirmed coronary artery disease in asymptomatic patients, suggests a new study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging.

• Preliminary findings from a new study may shed some light on why supplementing with antioxidants may be a bad idea for patients with cancer. The study revealed that at least in melanoma, antioxidants promote disease progression by promoting metastasis. The results of the study are published online in Nature.

• Contrary to popular belief, an individual's personality is only slightly affected by their birth position among siblings, suggested a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

• Inpatient treatment with premixed human insulin produces glycemic control similar to that of basal-bolus analog regimens in those with type 2 diabetes; however, the former led to considerably higher rates of hypoglycemia, reported a new study published online in Diabetes Care.

• Interim data from a clinical trial led by the West African Network for Clinical Trials of Antimalarial Drugs (WANECAM) published online in The Lancet Infectious Diseases supports the safety and efficacy of the artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) when used for the re-treatment of adults and children over 5 kgs with malaria.

• Ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke patients who suffer from acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring dialysis have higher death rates and greater odds of entering long-term care or nursing facilities after hospitalization, reported a study published online in Stroke.

• Excessive weight gain is associated with greater body fat and weight at 7 years postpartum among mothers who begin pregnancy at normal or slight overweight, suggests new research published online in the journal American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

• Lithium is as effective for the treatment of manic or mixed episodes in pediatric patients with bipolar I disorder as it is in adults, suggested the first large, randomized, double-blind study of its kind, published online in Pediatrics.

• Treating uncontrolled hypertension with medication can greatly reduce the risk for a myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and heart failure; however, the current approach to treatment can’t undo all of the previous damage or restore cardiovascular disease risk to ideal levels, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

• Injections of botulinum toxin into the fat surrounding the heart following coronary bypass reduces incidence of atrial fibrillation immediately after surgery and a year later. (Jonathan Steinberg, MD, of the University of Rochester in New York, in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology)

Media

eSPIRITUAL

How to Be Happy and Healthy

Somebody once asked Lord Buddha, "After meditating for years, I have not been able to gain anything." Then Lord Buddha asked, "Did you lose anything?" The disciple said, "Yes, I lost my anger, desires, expectations and ego." Buddha smiled and said, "That is what your gain is by meditating."

To be happy, one must learn to let go the following:

• One should let go the desires. In Amarnath Ki Yatra, Lord Shiva firstly let go of the Bull, which represents the sexual desires. In Hanuman ki Lanka yatra, desires are represented by Samhiki, a creature who used to catch birds by their shadow. Hanuman killed the desires. So, it is possible to kill your desires.

• Again in Ramayana, desires are linked to Rajsik mind and in mythology, Meghnath represents the Rajsik mind. Meghnath was killed by Lakshman, the determined mind. Therefore, one should let go of the desires by killing them by focused concentration of the mind on the desires.

• Let go of your expectations. In Amarnath Ki Yatra, the second thing which Lord Shiva discarded was the moon, which in mythology is symbolized by letting go of expectations.

• Let go of your ego. In mythology, ego represents Kansa in Krishna era and Ravana in Rama era. Both were killed by Krishna and Rama respectively, who symbolize the consciousness. Ego can never be killed by the mind and can be killed only by the consciousness (conscious–based decisions).

• Ego is also represented by Sheshnaag and we have Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu both having a Sheshnaag each with a mouth downwards indicating the importance of controlling one’s ego.

• One should let go his or her ego but also remember never to hurt somebody’s ego. Hurting somebody’s ego in terms of allegations of sexual misconduct, financial corruption or abusing one’s caste is never forgotten and carries serious implications.

• In Hanuman Ki Lanka Yatra, ego is represented by Sursa and Hanuman managed her by humility and not by counter ego. In Naag Panchami also, we worship Naag, the ego, by folded hands and by offering milk.

• Let go of your inaction. One should learn to live in the present. In Hanuman Ki Lanka Yatra, Hanuman first meets Menak Mountain, which indicates destination to rest. One should never do that and willfully divert his or her mind towards action.

• Let go of your attachments. Let go of your attachments to your close relatives and the worldly desires. In Amarnath Ki Yatra, Lord Shiva first leaves Bull (desires), moon (expectations), sheshnaag (ego) and then he gives up Ganesha and worldly desires (five elements). In mythology, this is practiced as detached attachment and in Bhagavad Gita is equated to Lotus. In Islam, detached attachment is practiced in the form of Bakra Eid.

• Let go of your habit of criticizing, complaining and condemning people. One should always practice non–violent communication and speak which is truth, necessary and kind. One should not criticize, condemn or complain about people, situation and events. Wayne Dyer said, "The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you do not know anything about."

• Most of us often condemn people without knowing their capabilities and label them as unmatchable to us. One should also let go habit of gossiping as it is a form of violent communication.

• Let go of your habit of blaming others: One should learn to take the responsibilities and people believe in team work. Good leader is the one who learns to be responsible in life.

Legal Quote

Martin F. D'Souza vs Mohd. Ishfaq, 3541 of 2002, dated 17.02.2009

“… simple negligence may result only in civil liability, but gross negligence or recklessness may result in criminal liability as well. For civil liability only damages can be imposed by the court but for criminal liability the doctor can also be sent to jail (apart from damages which may be imposed on him in a civil suit or by the consumer fora). However, what is simple negligence and what is gross negligence may be a matter of dispute even among experts.”

Medicofinance

Trusts

For incorporating a Trust, there need to be:

• Intention to create a Trust

• Purpose of the Trust

• Beneficiaries of the Trust i.e. the persons whose the benefit the Trust is created

• Trust Property and transfer of the Trust property to the Trustee of the Trust.

(Source: IJCP)

Industry News

• Gurgaon best launch pad for new business: Several Gurgaon-based startups such as Snapdeal, Crownit, PayU India and Peppertap rooted for Gurgaon as the best place to launch startups at the annual leadership conclave, Samvad, at the Management Development Institute (MDI) in Gurgaon. (The Times of India - Shubhra Pant)

• New smartphone app to help spina bifida patients: "iMHere" (interactive Mobile Health & Rehabilitation), a smartphone app can help improve the daily self-management skills of adolescents and young adults with spina bifida that include including information on medications, reminders to perform important daily self-care activities, and monitoring of mood and depression symptoms. The features of this system are mobile reminders and messaging with healthcare providers. (Business Standard – PTI)

• India's e-tail sees 3-fold growth in a year: The value of India's online sales in 2015 is expected to be thrice as much as last year with more people favoring online shopping. It is estimated that Indian e-commerce companies' combined gross merchandise value (GMV) this year will be over $12 billion (Rs 78,000 crore) by December, compared with $4.5 billion (Rs 29,000 crore) last year. Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal control nearly 80% of the country's e-commerce market, with Reliance Industries set to enter the market by 2016. (Business Standard- Alnoor Peermohamed, Anita Babu and Raghu Krishnan)

• Companies move to offline-first strategy for growth: At a time when most startups in India are switching to a mobile-first model, a clutch of firms in Silicon Valley and India have moved on to the next stage — an offline-first strategy. Offline first refers to a mobile application-development strategy where the app's most crucial features work even when internet connectivity is lost. All areas, metropolitan cities or remote areas, face poor connectivity. The problem in urban areas is network congestion, while in remote areas, the problem is no signal at all especially in developing nations in Africa and Asia. (The Economic Times- Krithika Krishnamurthy)

Inspirational Story

A Million Dollar Lesson

A cab driver taught me a million dollar lesson in customer satisfaction and expectation. Motivational speakers charge thousands of dollars to impart his kind of training to corporate executives and staff. It cost me a $12 taxi ride.

I had flown into Dallas for the sole purpose of calling on a client. Time was of the essence and my plan included a quick turnaround trip from and back to the airport. A spotless cab pulled up. The driver rushed to open the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he closed the door. As he got in the driver’s seat, he mentioned that the neatly folded Wall Street Journal next to me was for my use. He then showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy. Well! I looked around for a "Candid Camera!" Wouldn’t you? I could not believe the service I was receiving! I took the opportunity to say, "Obviously you take great pride in your work. You must have a story to tell."

"You bet," he replied, "I used to be in Corporate America. But I got tired of thinking my best would never be good enough. I decided to find my niche in life where I could feel proud of being the best I could be. I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have done a full day’s work and done it well. I evaluate my personal assets and… wham! I became a cab driver. One thing I know for sure, to be good in my business I could simply just meet the expectations of my passengers. But, to be GREAT in my business, I have to EXCEED the customer’s expectations! I like both the sound and the return of being ‘great’ better than just getting by on ‘average’"

eMEDIPICS

Cardiology - Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow - A CME was organized by IMA HQs on World Heart Day at IMA House, New Delhi

MTNL Perfect Health Mela 2015.

Pls click here for details

eMEDI QUIZ

Presence of food might be expected to interfere with drug absorption by slowing gastric emptying, or by altering the degree of ionization of the drug in the stomach. Which of the following statements is not a correct example:

1. Absorption of digoxin is delayed by the presence of food.
2. Concurrent food intake may severely reduce the rate of absorption of phenytoin.
3. Presence of food enhances the absorption of hydrochlorothiazide.
4. Anitimalarial drug halofantrine is more extensively absorbed if taken with food.

The rate of cesarean section deliveries is growing all over the country. Obstetricians are often accused of using cesarean section to increase their income. On the other hand, issues such as increasing maternal age, precious babies, mothers’ insistence, safety and ease, parents’ schedule preferences, and preferences for doctor’s and hospital’s office hour delivery all result in increasing operative deliveries. However all doctors believe that ‘natural is the way to go’ in pregnancy. Yet operative deliveries are undertaken to avoid the smallest risk to mother or child. What do you think?

a. Is caesarean section a part of defensive medicine?

b. Do you agree to cesarean section deliveries in general?

c. Can such sections lead to complications for the baby such as prematurity and therefore, should they be always avoided?

d. If no to cesarean section, then what is the alternative?

e. Should there be definite essential requirements for cesarean section?

The Union Minister for Science &Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has urged the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry to pursue serious scientific research for providing quality and cost effective medicines to people. He was speaking after presenting the Business Excellence Awards at the India Pharma expo in New Delhi.
He said Shri Narendra Modi Government wants to put the science to use and had called upon the pharmaceutical manufactures to take up challenging researches. Dr. Harsh Vardhan said in his ministry under the aegis of Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and Department of Biotechnology researches are going on in the pharmaceutical sector to benefit the people. The India Pharma Expo was being organized in Delhi on 24th & 25th of this month in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. (PIB)

MAKE SURE

Indian Medical Association National Satyagraha for a Healthy India

IMA Satyagraha, suggested slogans

• Writing prescription drugs by a non-MBBS is injurious to health of the community.
• Writing prescription drugs by unqualified people can be dangerous.
• Allow doctors to treat patients irrespective of patients’ income.(If compensation is not capped, we can't do this)
• When there is capping of Rs 2 lakh for a sterilization death, why not for other procedures?
• When there is a compensation of Rs 30,000/- for a sterilization failure, why not for other procedures?
• Allow us to treat poor and rich equally.
• Non pelvic ultrasound providers should be out of PCPNDT Act.
• Unless caught doing sex determination, no criminal offence shall be registered.
• If any prospective parent asks for sex determination, they should be booked under a non bailable offense.
• More patients will die if doctors are not provided protection during duty hours.
• Death does not mean negligence.
• Money spent does not mean you will get a cure.
• Including single clinic and small establishments under Clinical Establishment Act will make treatment costly.
• How can we treat patients using outdated standard treatment guidelines made by government?
• How can government decide the charges of a clinical establishment?

Organ donation

Appreciating Prime Minister Narendra Modi for highlighting the issue of organ donation during his "Mann ki Baat" programme, Indian Medical Association (IMA) Secretary General KK Aggarwal on Sunday said that organ donation should be made a law in India. "It is a welcome step and we feel that many more such innovative ideas must be spoken by him in "Mann ki Baat" programme. Out of a demand of one lakh organ donations, only 25,000 undergo transplants out of which only 5,000 successful transplants take place. That is the statistics that the Prime Minister gave to which we agree," said Dr. Aggarwal.

"Organ donation should be made a law. As on today, for example I have to donate an organ if I pledge my organ that is not taken seriously at the time of death because the relatives have to agree. If I give my living will and in my will I have written that I pledge my organs then that should be made compulsory," he added.
"Government should also think that if anyone dies and his brain is dead and heart is living, his organs should be donated unless the relations should want. Instead of taking the consent, it should be an automatic consent unless they object," he added. (DNA – ANI)

WHO identifies four interventions to reduce climate pollutants

A new report by the WHO, ‘Reducing global health risks through mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants’, highlights the urgent need to reduce emissions of pollutants such as black carbon, ozone, methane and carbon dioxide. Black carbon, ozone and methane, which are frequently described as short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) not only cause global warming, they also contribute significantly to the more than 7 million premature deaths linked to air pollution every year. The Report identifies four interventions to reduce these pollutants:
• Reducing vehicle emissions by implementing higher emissions and efficiency standards could reduce black carbon and other co-pollutants from fossil fuels, improve air quality and reduce the disease burden attributable to outdoor air pollution.
• Policies and investments that prioritize dedicated rapid transit such as buses and trains and foster safe pedestrian and cycle networks can promote multiple benefits, including: safer active travel and reduced health risks from air and noise pollution, physical inactivity, and road traffic injuries.
• Providing cleaner and more efficient stove and fuel alternatives to the approximately 2.8 billion low-income households worldwide dependent on primarily wood, dung and other solid fuels for heating and cooking, could reduce air pollution-related diseases and reduce the health risks and time invested in fuel-gathering.
• Encouraging high and middle-income populations to increase their consumption of nutritious plant-based foods could reduce heart disease and some cancers, and slow methane emissions associated with some animal-sourced foods.

This report is a significant step in WHO’s ongoing work to prevent diseases and deaths related to air pollution and towards achieving the new global health goal. Target 3.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals aims to “By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.” (WHO)

WHO recommends withdrawal of OPV as a crucial strategy to end polio

The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) of the WHO has recommended withdrawal of type 2 component of oral polio vaccine (OPV). The globally synchronized switch from trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent OPV (bOPV) should occur between 17 April and 1 May 2016

The type 2 component of OPV accounts for 40% of VAPP cases, and upwards of 90% of cVDPV cases. By contrast, wild poliovirus type 2 has not been detected anywhere since 1999 and the Global Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (GCC) declared this strain globally eradicated at its meeting in September 2015. Countries have therefore been preparing to remove the type 2 component from OPV, by switching from trivalent OPV (containing all three serotypes) to bivalent OPV (containing only type 1 and 3 serotypes). All oral polio vaccines will be removed after global eradication of wild poliovirus types 1 and 3 has been certified.

SAGE also concluded that significant progress had been made since its last meeting, in April 2015, with no cases of wild poliovirus in Africa since August and more than a year having passed since the last case was seen in the Middle East, strengthened surveillance and more children being reached with vaccines in key areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. As a result of these steps, all countries and the partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) should intensify their preparations for the global withdrawal of OPV type 2 (OPV2) in April 2016.

SAGE cautioned, however, that more work needs to be done ahead of the switch date. It is critical that countries meet deadlines to protect populations by moving towards destruction of wild poliovirus type 2 stocks or their containment in ‘poliovirus essential’ facilities. Ongoing vaccine-derived type 2 polio outbreaks in Guinea and South Sudan need to be stopped. A global shortage of inactivated polio vaccine needs to be managed ahead of the switch, with available supplies prioritized for the highest-risk areas. (WHO)

APBI and WBI for breast cancer show similar disease-free survival at 5 years

A study reported at the American Society for Radiation Oncology meeting by Vratislav Strnad, MD, PhD, of University Hospital Erlangen in Germany has for the first time demonstrated noninferiority of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) to whole-breast irradiation (WBI). Patients who received multicatheter brachytherapy APBI after lumpectomy had a 5-year local recurrence rate of 1.4% vs 0.9% for women who had WBI. The 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival were similar between treatment groups.
"These are daily practice-changing findings. Partial breast irradiation, using multicatheter brachytherapy, can be considered a valid and effective option that can be offered for all low-risk breast cancer patients in routine clinical practice," said Vratislav Strnad. The study is published in The Lancet. (Medpage Today)

12 Habits of Exceptional Leaders

1. Courage
2. Effective communication
3. Generosity
4. Humility
5. Self-awareness
6. Adherence to the Golden Rule +1: “The Golden Rule —treat others as you want to be treated—assumes that all people are the same. Great leaders don’t
treat people how they themselves want to be treated. They take the Golden Rule a step further and treat each person as he or she would like to be treated.”
7. Passion
8. Infectiousness: “Great leaders make that vision come alive so that your followers can see it just as clearly as you do. And inspire others to internalize the vision and make it their own.”
9. Authenticity
10. Approachability
11. Accountability
12. Sense of purpose
(Source: Entrepreneur)

Bioprinted models of heart, arteries created

Models of heart and arteries out of biological materials have been created using models of heart and arteries out of biological materials. Researchers are hopeful that one day this advance could lead to a world in which transplants are no longer necessary to repair damaged organs.

Traditional 3D printers build hard objects typically made of plastic or metal, and they work by depositing material onto a surface layer-by-layer to create the 3D object. Adam Feinberg, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University and colleagues developed a method of printing with soft materials like gels termed FRESH, or `Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels'. A major advance of this technique is that the support gel can be easily melted away and removed by heating to body temperature. "So we developed a method of printing these soft materials inside a support bath material. Essentially, we print one gel inside of another gel, which allows us to accurately position the soft material as it's being printed, layer-by-layer," he said… (ETHealthworld.com - PTI)

IMA JIMA

GP Tip: Low pulse pressure

In patients with dengue, low pulse pressure is a dangerous sign. A BP of 110/100 or 100/90 indicates capillary permeability.

(Source: IJCP)

Readers column

Dear Sir, Thanks for the information: Regards, Dr Kanish

Press Release

22nd Perfect Health Mela to create mass health awareness on new age health epidemics like Swine Flu and Dengue

Amidst ongoing festivities and the onset of the winter season, HCFI gears up for its five-day flagship - the 22nd Perfect Health Mela

Heart Care Foundation of India, a leading national non-profit organization committed to making India a healthier and disease-free nation is all set to roll out its annual flagship event – the 22nd Perfect Health Mela. A primary focus of this year’s event is to deliberate, debate and deliver a comprehensive strategy for the National management of new age health epidemics such as dengue and swine flu.

The Health Mela is a confluence of tradition and modernity and has successfully since the past 22 years been working towards creating mass awareness about all aspects of health; using a consumer-driven model as the medium. It is being co-organized in association with the IMA, MTNL, Coke, MCD and NDMC, Ministry of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Textile, and is scheduled to take place from 4- 8th November 2015 at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.

The five-day event will showcase seminars, on-ground checkups, entertainment programs, lectures, workshops, and competitions all centered around preventive health issues. Swine Flu and Dengue will be given primary importance given the havoc it has been creating in the society in the previous months.

Speaking about this, Padma Shri Awardee, Dr K K Aggarwal, President HCFI and Honorary Secretary General IMA said, "Over the past decade we have seen a drastic rise in the dengue and Swine Flu cases. Large-scale awareness generation is key to the National management of these new age epidemics. People do not realize how dangerous living in unclean environments, letting water accumulate in one's house, having a poor sense of hygiene and drinking unfiltered water can be. During the 22nd MTNL Perfect Health Mela organized by HCFI in association with IMA, NDMC, and MCD, we will be taking out a white paper on the National strategy required for the management of diseases like dengue and swine flu in India. We will also be educating the public about respiratory hygiene, cough etiquette, and hand hygiene, which are one of the most prominent measures for ensuring immunity from the influenza virus.”

Adding to this, Dr P K Sharma, Medical Health Officer, NDMC, Dr N K Yadav, r, MHO South & Ms Meena Chauhan GM (Mktng and Corporate Affairs) MTNL in a joint statement said, “Mass health awareness programmes such as the Perfect Health Mela are much needed in a country like India where more than a third of population suffers from several degenerative chronic diseases and other acquired infections like Swine Flu and Dengue. Preventive health education is key for a healthy society. We are happy to be associated with the event and will continue to support it in the future as well.”

Easy to understand tips will be shared during the Perfect Health Mela Including:

• Swine Flu or H1N1 influenza is a viral respiratory infection, which strikes like a ‘common-cold' infection but is more severe in symptoms and the outcomes. The influenza virus mutates extremely fast and is highly infectious. The typical symptoms of Swine flu are a sore throat, fever, headache chills, and fatigue.
• Swine flu does not occur in the absence of fever. If a person only has a sore throat and cough with no fever, he does not have Swine flu
• If a person has a cough, then he does not have Swine Flu as a cough happens in case of a viral infection only and not a bacterial infection like Swine flu
• Flu patients do not require antibiotics. Unless a cough and cold are accompanied by breathlessness, it does not require admission
• All health care workers and high-risk patients should take the Swine flu vaccine. High-risk patients include pregnant women, individuals from 6 months through 24 years of age, household contacts and caregivers of children younger than six months of age and individuals from 25 through 64 years of age with health conditions associated with increased risk of influenza complications Respiratory hygiene is a must. It involves maintaining a distance of at least 3 feet from a person who is coughing and sneezing.
• Proper cough etiquette demands that the infected person ensures that he or she covers their mouth and nose with a tissue while coughing or sneezing and then disposes of the tissue immediately to stop the disease from spreading to others. In a case where a tissue may not be available, it is best to cough and sneeze into one's upper sleeves and not in their hands or a handkerchief. Sneezing and coughing into one's hands/ using a handkerchief are reasons why the disease spreads at such a rapid pace